By Tara Cop
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s administration said no one with a “critical safety” position in the federal aviation administration has been fired to cut the federal workforce, but has been eliminated Some of his work said he played a direct role in assisting safety inspectors and safety inspectors. The airport operates, according to the union and former employees.
Around 400 staff members have been let go since Friday. There are no full photos yet of who was fired, but the union, which represents around 130 people, said its staff includes aviation safety assistants, maintenance mechanics and navigation information experts.
They are for planes flying through Washington Airspace after last month’s fatal air collision, including helping aircraft safety inspectors, repairing air traffic control facilities, and updating digital maps used by pilots during flight. They are the type of worker responsible for making changes that could be directed by the FAA. .
FAA administrator Sean Duffy said there have been no cuts in air traffic controllers or critical safety officers over the weekend.
“We have protected our roles that are essential to safety,” said Halee Dobbins, a spokesman for the Department of Transport. “In the layoffs, these were probation employees. This means that they only had the FAA in less than two years, which represents less than 1% of the FAA’s 45,000 or more employees.”
Former FAA certified technician, Philip Mann said whether someone’s position is defined as “important to safety” depends on whether they are permitted to perform certified inspections of the equipment they are working on. He said it was on the move.
The people fired were not those who were tested for those, but they supported the job.
“It’s stretching, but it’s usually where they can draw a line to say. And if you don’t prove something, you don’t have a key job of safety,” Mann said. said.
But the losses for these staff “will have long-term safety implications – simply jobs that can’t be done,” he said.
When confidence in air travel has diminished since the US Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines passenger jet collided in January at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the Associated Press Nocal Public Research Center, released Wednesday I’ll come to.
Polls show that 64% of US adults say that air travel is “very safe” or “somewhat safe.” That’s a slight decline since last year when 71% said it. Currently, about two in 10 adults in the US say air transport is very or slightly unsafe from 12% in 2024.
Meanwhile, in the firing, 18 air traffic control facilities have lost maintenance maintenance technicians, and employees working on electronic issues and other building repairs at other facilities are the union representing around 130 of the approximately 400. said David Spero, president of the Association of Professional Aviation Professionals. FAA staff member fired.
Certified technicians responsible for these systems may need to absorb the responsibility of the maintenance mechanics, which can affect critical infrastructure work like radar.
“These people are all part of the safety net,” Sparo said. “The more you’re not there, the more difficult it will be to do actual safety monitoring.”
The reduction to navigator aviation experts means updating the digital maps used by pilots. For airline safety inspections, an aviation safety assistant is “like paralysis for lawyers,” Spero said. They do paperwork, so inspectors focus on the plane.
There are 26 assistants cut, each usually supporting 10 safety inspectors at a time. Spero said there is a high chance that additional documents will fall on the inspector, and it will increase the time it takes to check the aircraft.
“They won’t be able to do as much surveillance as they did before,” Spero said.
The same additional workload affects certified technicians, Mann said.
“Every engineer has around three air traffic controllers, just as they do with air traffic controllers,” Mann said.
There is already a shortage of FAAs. Federal officials have been concerned about over-tax tentacles and under-staffed air traffic control systems for years, not even at major airports where 24-hour coverage with engineers has been held. .
Spero said ground stops were generated at five surrounding airports due to a temporary blackout on the radar at Chicago O’Hare International Airport last July, as plane locations were not being able to provide accurate feeding. There were no technicians with the skills to reset.
The union knew no details of the other positions out of the roughly 400 people who were cut off. Some staff were part of a FAA program that supported other agencies, such as Hawaii’s classified early warning radar systems aimed at detecting incoming cruise missiles that are working with the Department of Defense. .
Republican Trump tries to successfully make his campaign promises to eradicate fraud, waste, and waste, and from firing career agency employees to firing federal grant funds, he says. The two administrations implemented drastic changes in the first few weeks. Federal abuse. Trump adviser Elon Musk’s government efficiency, or Doge, is leading efforts to cut the federal government.
Rapid fires across the government have caught leaders caught by surprise at some agencies. In some cases, the firing caused immediate rebound, and staff were instructed to return to work, including the National Nuclear Security Agency, which is responsible for the nuclear warhead.
“What I want is that the FAA will bring these people back,” Spero said. “And if they need to assess the size of the government, in reality, the FAA can do it in a thoughtful and systematic way to determine the impact on aviation safety.”
Original issue: February 19, 2025, 2:18pm EST
